Reid Carson wrote:

        As I think about it, in fact, nearly everyone in these
stories lets Ranma down very badly. If we take the OOC behavior of
Ranma and Akane in stride, I don't much blame Ranma for choosing
Kentaro over this Akane. Indeed, the thing I find more dubious is
that he would want anything to do with any of these people again.

Reid Carson
rcarson@mnsinc.com

J.A.Wilde wrote:

Thank you Reid, 

Although I enjoyed the stories and thought them well crafted, I heartily
agree with you that Akane's love for Ranma is woefully cut down to
accomodate the story line. While I see that a certain distancing from
the rest of the cast is required for Ranma to interact in her new and
troubling circumstances, (and to allow Kentaro an in-road) perhaps there
could have been a little more detail concerning the break-up of R&A.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

        Is the scene in Building Bridges between R&A not detailed enough?
Tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it.

That's for Mister Lawson to decide, but I felt compelled to respond to
this post, and to post it back to the FFML to see if anyone cared to
debate this point.

        Of course. 

        In Building Bridges, I had to distance Ranma from Akane.  Now, in
Thy Outward Part, Akane and Ranma had already gone over all the alternatives
available to them as Ranma is now a girl for good.  Then Ranma left the Dojo
to go to college, to get away from the family.  Now, after she storms out of
Kentaro's room in Thy Outward Part, where did she go?  

        That is basically where Building Bridges comes in, to detail Ranma's
distancing from her old life so that she can get on with her new one.

        It is already implied in Thy Outward Part that Ranma and co. have
already discussed everything to their hearts' content, so in Building
Bridges I made Ranma and Akane skim over the details.  

        That is probably the reason why there was less detail concerning
R&A's breakup, for I wanted to place more emphasis on the selfishness of
Akane in Building Bridges - to make Akane reject Ranma, so that Ranma can
get on with her new life.
        
        Also remember what Akane said in Thy Outward Part to Ranma, in the
cafeteria.  She told Ranma that she had a boyfriend, in spite of Ranma still
loving her and all.  Shows that Akane wasn't willing to wait for Ranma to
get cured, and Ranma is understandably bitter about it.

        If this makes little sense to you, please tell me.  I'm hyperactive
tonight.  :)